Springfield site gets $76 million state data center

By STEPHANIE BARRY and DAN RING

01/09/2009- The Republican

BOSTON - Breaking a political stalemate, Gov. Deval L. Patrick on Thursday named the old Technical High School in Springfield as his choice for a $76 million state data center.

Patrick's decision came after Inspector General Gregory W. Sullivan issued a two-page letter, upholding a prior analysis by state agencies that recommended the technical high school building.

The site won out over the technology park at Springfield Technical Community College, which already houses several technology-based businesses. Springfield's data center would serve as a backup to the main facility in Chelsea.

"The second data center in Springfield will allow us to better manage and protect the systems that provide essential services to our citizens," said Anne Margulies, the state's chief information office.

Construction will begin in January 2010, the governor's office said.

Margulies said the building will become a national model for green technologies.

The centers house virtually all of the state's electronic records. The local facility is expected to generate about 70 full-time jobs. Construction will take two years and will employ another 200 people. The state will start on design work immediately.

The issue was deadlocked as powerful political forces were divided on the locations. U.S. Rep. Richard E. Neal, D-Springfield, advocated for the high school to cap his work to bring a new federal courthouse to State Street and refurbish the surrounding area.

Neal said he was delighted with the decision and pleased to end a three-year impasse on the issue.

He said the data center will boost a flagging stretch of State, Elliot and Edward streets.
"We have really completed a neighborhood. I am very grateful to the governor," Neal said.

Three state legislators who represent Springfield, led by Rep. Thomas M. Petrolati, D-Ludlow, backed the technology park, while four other state legislators who represent the city supported the old technical school.

Petrolati said the data center is a win for Springfield and he is "100 percent" in support of the governor's selection.

"I think it was a fair decision," Petrolati said. "I am just glad we were able to implement the process that led to the decision."

Petrolati was chief author of a bill that called for the inspector general's oversight.

State legislators and Patrick approved that bill last year as a compromise to settle the impasse among local political leaders that could have imperiled the center's placement in Springfield.

The bill also gave Patrick the ability to locate the center anywhere in Western Massachusetts, but he announced in December that it would be in Springfield. On Thursday, he picked the old high school as the specific location in Springfield.

The inspector general reviewed and then approved a prior report that recommended the old high school for the data center over Building 104 at the college park.

The state Division of Capital Asset Management and the state Information Technology Division, which completed the earlier report, favored the old high school site because it is more secure with less motor vehicle traffic. That report also said it would be more economical to build the new two-story data center at the old high school.

Located on Elliot Street, the old high school was closed in the 1980s and has remained vacant since.

Two Springfield Democrats who supported the old high school, Reps. Sean F. Curran and Angelo J. Puppolo Jr., said they were naturally pleased with the governor's decision.

"It's a boost for the State Street corridor," Puppolo said. "It's jobs and economic development."

Curran said the data center would represent the biggest state investment in Springfield since the state pumped $71 million into the MassMutual Center in Springfield in 2005. That project overhauled the old civic center and included an adjacent convention center.

The city will need to formally transfer ownership of the old school to the state, a spokeswoman for the governor said.